Play hard, work smart: examining the relationship between playful breaks and productivity
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Author
Jagacki, Michael J.Keyword
Research Subject Categories::SOCIAL SCIENCES::Social sciences::PsychologyProductivity
Work -- Psychological aspects
Play
Online social networks Psychological aspects
Social media
Video games -- Psychological aspects
Readers/Advisors
Maynard, DougHirshorn, Elizabeth
Citera, Maryalice
Term and Year
Fall 2024Date Published
2024-12
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
This study explored the effects of break activities on task performance, comparing digital play, physical play, and passive social media use. Seventy-six college students completed a letter cross-out task followed by a 3-minute break, then resumed the task for additional trials. Contrary to expectations from previous ego-depletion studies, performance remained stable across all trials, with no significant evidence of cognitive fatigue or differences in post-break recovery between conditions. Trends suggested that physical play offered mild recovery benefits, with smaller performance declines compared to digital play and social media, though these differences were not statistically significant. Self-reported measures of break enjoyment, task disengagement, subjective productivity, and post-break refreshment also favored physical play as the most restorative activity, although not statistically significant. These findings challenge traditional ego depletion models and emphasize the need for more robust task designs and recovery metrics to better understand the dynamics of fatigue and performance recovery.Accessibility Statement
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- Creative Commons
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International